Overview
Mission
Information literacy is essential in all disciplines. Acquiring information literacy skills positions students for academic, professional, and personal success. Woodbury University requires that all students demonstrate a certain level of information literacy at the time of graduation. The library offers several one- unit courses that provide a foundational mechanism through which students may begin to satisfy this requirement. Students only need to take one of these courses. When taken early in a student’s career, LSCI courses provide a strong benchmark foundation for information literacy skills. With continued instruction and practice in other GE and discipline courses, students will be prepared for the more complex and sophisticated applications of information literacy assessed in their majors at the capstone level.
Learning Outcomes
Program Learning Outcomes
The most tangible results of student learning are manifest in projects created for various classes throughout the course of study at Woodbury. As part of the core competency assessment process, information literacy is assessed by the majors at or near capstone level. Bibliographies, resource lists, and other information-based projects done in upper- division courses should demonstrate accurate and correct citation practices, appropriate choices among a variety of authoritative resource materials, and verification that projects overall are free of plagiarism.
Changes in behaviors and attitudes are evident in students’ activities, such as being able to use the online library catalog independently to identify and retrieve materials from various locations, choose appropriate research tools, execute effective and efficient searches, evaluate information and sources critically, and use information effectively
The library is the student’s partner in learning, research, study, and teaching. Connecting students with information and related services, the library’s faculty and staff provide the human element that helps guide students toward self- sufficiency in effective and efficient research and development of critical Evaluation skills. Guided by the Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education established by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), the library provides courses, workshops, and individual point-of-use instruction to facilitate the achievement of the following outcomes:
- Recognize and utilize the library’s physical and virtual resources and services as an access point for the facilitation of learning.
- Demonstrate a foundational understanding of research methods and resources appropriate for both general and discipline-specific inquiries.
- Evaluate information critically and contextually, and incorporate appropriate information into their knowledge base.
- Integrate appropriate and meaningful sources into the creation of oral, physical, visual, and/or written works that advance understanding.
- Apply skills and knowledge of effective and ethical research processes to real-life issues and situations.
- Continue developing and practicing information literacy skills and knowledge beyond LSCI courses, applying them in other courses and situations.
Assessment Process
Formative Assessment Experiences
Formative assessment processes include opportunities for students to provide structured feedback to their peers, detailed feedback from professors on homework and quizzes, and student self-assessments.
LSCI professors assess their own performance through student course evaluations, professors’ self-reflection, and faculty-peer observation of their teaching. At the department level, a regular five-year cycle of programmatic assessment provides opportunities to evaluate the results of changes made in response to previous findings. The purpose of this is to maintain the highest level of academic quality and to assure that the program continues to meet the needs of the students it serves. Assessment of the student learning outcomes listed above is an ongoing part of that process.
Summative Assessment Experiences
Summative assessment methods include comprehensive exams and evaluations of students’ formal presentations and projects. Assessment also takes into consideration class attendance and participation, which is explained in the syllabus.